


Heat of the Moment

by Manwathiel_Caladwen



Series: A Relationship in 10 Kisses [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Light Angst, M/M, Not Epilogue Compliant, Post-Hogwarts, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25755916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manwathiel_Caladwen/pseuds/Manwathiel_Caladwen
Summary: “Harry?” Draco asked tentatively, walking around so he could see Harry’s face.Harry raised his eyes, clearly startled out of his train of thought, and registered Draco standing before him.“Leave.”Draco flinched at Harry’s tone which had effectively crushed any hope Draco might have felt.When Draco didn’t move, Harry spoke again. “Have you gone deaf? I said leave.”“Can I explain, please?” Even to his own ears, Draco sounded desperate.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Series: A Relationship in 10 Kisses [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1715830
Comments: 7
Kudos: 246





	Heat of the Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Sixth entry in a 10 part series that tells the story of a relationship through 10 kisses. 
> 
> This story took on a life of its own, but I really enjoyed writing it. Hope you all like it too! 
> 
> As always, not beta read so any mistakes are you my own. Enjoy everybody!

Kiss 6: Heat of the Moment—May 2003

“Ron? Ron, are you even listening to me?” Hermione stopped walking and turned to find Ron standing in front of a window, mouth hanging open. Hermione’s annoyance at being ignored was momentarily displaced by curiosity, “What is it?” she asked, walking to stand next to Ron.

“Oh dear.”

“The fucking prick,” Ron growled and turning to look at Hermione, he asked, “Do you recognize her? Any chance it’s a relative?”

Hermione shook her head, “I don’t think so.”

They shared a heavy look and Ron turned away, beckoning Hermione to follow him. Leaving the restaurant window, she felt a weight settle deep in her stomach, and with a glance at Ron, she knew he felt it too.

They were almost at the end of the Alley when Hermione broke the silence, “What do we do?”

Ron’s face was grim but his jaw firm, “We have to tell him.”

Hermione nodded, and reaching out, took Ron’s hand as the pair apparated away to Grimmauld Place and an unpleasant conversation.

_Later that night_

Draco was in a foul mood when he stumbled out of the floo into Harry’s perpetually messy kitchen, swearing under his breath as he tripped over the fire poker left lying on the hearth. Not only was he starving because the restaurant his parents had picked had pitiful portion sizes, he was still seething over the argument he and his father had left unfinished. 

“Harry?” He called out as he set down the bag of take-out on the table. “Harry?” Draco wandered through the empty halls of Grimmauld Place, becoming more concerned as Harry remained noticeably absent. Returning to the kitchen, Draco grabbed some floo powder and called out for Ron and Hermione’s flat, poking his head into the fire and waiting for one of them to answer.

Seeing Ron enter the room, Draco started to speak but he was cut off.

“What do you want Malfoy?”

Draco was momentarily taken aback at the venom in Ron’s voice—they’d been getting along better lately but he recovered quickly and said, “Is Harry with you guys? He not home and we had dinner plans.”

“He doesn’t want to see you Malfoy.” Ron snarled.

Draco blinked stupidly at Ron, not in the mood to deal with this. “What do you mean? Is he okay?” Draco could see Ron shaking in anger and his confusion grew.

“I mean, he doesn’t want to fucking see you,” Ron repeated slowly, “He knows, alright? The game is up so do yourself a favour and never come near him again.” 

Draco was left speechless and before he could respond with more question, he was pushed back, almost falling over with the force of Ron closing the floo connection. He sat on the floor for a minute longer before getting to his feet. Grabbing more floo powder, he tried Ron and Hermione’s again, but he knew instantly he wasn’t getting through their wards as he spun around before being deposited back at Grimmauld’s kitchen.

Looking at the take-out still sitting on the table, Draco’s appetite was suddenly gone. Instead, he snagged the full bottle of wine from the counter and made his way to their bedroom. Settling on the bed, Draco clutched Harry’s pillow to his chest with one hand, and uncorked the bottle of wine with the other.

To say that Draco had a bad weekend would be an understatement. He woke on Saturday morning uncomfortable from sleeping in his clothes, hung over from finishing almost the whole bottle of wine, and miserable from finding the bed empty and cold.

He stumbled out of bed with every intention of returning once he’d showered and found a suitable potion for his hang-over but as he stepped out of the shower, he remembered that he had several time-sensitive potions for customers that required his attention. By the time he’d finished at his lab and tried to return to Gimmauld Place, he found the wards had locked him out. 

Draco spent the next two days trying every method of magical communication he could think of to no avail. He’d lost count of how many fire messages, owls and even patronuses he’d sent only to have them returned, unopened, each one causing his spirits to drop lower and lower until deciding drinking to oblivion would be less painful.

So here he was, Monday morning, at work, miserable and still slightly hung-over as even his strongest potion hadn’t managed to get ride of all his symptoms.

“Damn it!” He swore loudly as his latest potion turned brilliant blue when it was supposed to be dark navy. Vanishing the ruined potion, Draco threw the reference book he was using across the room, wincing slightly at the loud clatter it made as it hit the floor. Draco dropped his head to the table, wondering if he should just close the shop for the day as he was clearly in no shape to brew anything.

“Having a bad day?”

Draco whipped around and narrowed his eyes as Hermione picked up the book and walked over, placing it down on his worktable.

“What the fuck do you want Granger?” He eyed her suspiciously.

Ignoring this, Hermione looked at Draco critically, “Are you okay Draco?”

Draco gave a derisive laugh, “Oh, I’m fantastic. Just can’t remember when I’ve been better. Really restful weekend. How are you? Have a good weekend then?”

“Don’t get short with me,” Hermione said mildly. She didn’t say anything else and Draco squirmed a bit under her intense gaze.

“Fine.” He let out a huff. “Why are you here Granger?”

“I’m here for Harry of course.”

“Well, he’s not here, so you can leave now.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and sat on a nearby stool, “That’s not what I meant you know it.” When Draco didn’t respond, she added, “He’s in pain, Draco.”

Draco felt his stomach fall and he hunched his shoulders.

“And I thought you caused it,” Hermione continued, “But, you are too. And now I want to know what happened.”

“So do I,” Draco said dejectedly.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, and Draco wrapped his arms protectively around his middle as he went on. “I came home Friday-we’d planned to have take-out and play chess, but he was gone. And Weasley wouldn’t let me see him.” Draco took a shuddering breath, “He ignored me all weekend and the wards have locked me out.”

Hermione looked closely at him and was surprising to see he looked ready to cry. She couldn’t keep the confusion out of her voice when she spoke next, “But you had a date Friday night. We-Ron and I- saw you.” As soon as she said these words, Draco paled and gripped his sides tighter. “That’s why Harry is ignoring you.” Hermione finished belatedly.

Tears had started falling down Draco’s cheek and Hermione moved in closer, her voice gentle, “Draco, you need to explain to me what is going on.”

Draco looked up and met her gaze briefly before looking away again. “My parents,” he took a breath to steady himself, “They don’t care that I’m gay. I mean, they don’t think it matters. It doesn’t stop me from getting married and producing an heir. Love or attraction don’t enter the equation for them, it’s an expectation they have of me.”

He took another breath and loosened the grip on his sides slightly. “Recently, they’ve come to realize I wasn’t going to follow their instructions or meet that expectation. We had a big argument over it, and I thought I convinced them. When they invited me out to dinner, well I never thought—I didn’t know—” His voice trailed off and he looked at Hermione, his eyes pleading with her to understand.

“You didn’t know it was a date.” Hermione finished, “Oh Draco, I’m sorry. When we saw you, you looked like you were enjoying yourself. We never thought you hadn’t planned it.”

Draco gave a little shrug and wiped at his eyes with his sleeve, “I haven’t seen my parents in months. I couldn’t just walk out on them.”

They lapsed into silence, both thinking, and Draco felt his eyes well up again. He hiccupped a bit and Hermione glanced over at him.

“Draco?” She prompted.

“I love him, Hermione.” He looked up, “What am I going to do?”

A look of resolved passed over Hermione’s face and she stood up, reaching for a quill and some parchment.

“These are the passwords to Harry’s new wards,” She handed Draco a slip of parchment, “You’re going to clean yourself up, have a proper meal and go over there and talk to him.”

“And what do I say?” He asked, looking down at the parchment in his hands.

“Tap into your inner Gryffindor and I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” She said with a smile as she turned to head back to the stairs.

“What does that even mean?” Draco called at her retreating figure, but Hermione didn’t respond, leaving Draco to decide if he was going to follow her advice.

In the end, he did follow her advice. Leaving the lab, he notified his assistant that he’d be unavailable for the remainder of the day and went home. Showering, he put on fresh clothes, though he couldn’t quite bring himself to eat anything, just the thought made him queasy.

Giving himself a once-over in his front hall mirror, Draco sighed. _Good as it’s going to get,_ he thought as he shrugged on a light travelling cloak. He disapparated, landing just outside the barriers around 12 Grimmauld Place. He waited, fidgeting with his sleeve as he watched the house appear, and slowly, Draco walked up to the front gate, noting the low thrum of the new wards Harry had put up to keep him out.

Reaching to grasp the gate latch, Draco concentrated on the first word Hermione had given him and when the metal warmed under his hand, he pushed his way through the gate, repeating the process again at the front door.

Walking into the hallway, Draco hung up his cloak and considered his options. He decided against announcing his presence in case Harry used the time to arm himself with his wand. Searching first in the kitchen and then in the sitting room, Draco frowned as he made his way to the next floor, hoping Harry wasn’t still in bed. When the bedroom yielded no Harry, Draco checked the last logical place.

Slowly, he made his way to the drawing room, and paused to take a deep breath before walking in. Harry was facing away from him, cured in his favour armchair, and empty glass next to him and what appeared to be a photo album open on his lap.

“Harry?” Draco asked tentatively, walking around so he could see Harry’s face. He knew he didn’t hide his concern nearly as well as Hermione had done when she walked into his lab.

Harry raised his eyes, clearly startled out of his train of thought, and registered Draco standing before him.

“Leave.”

Draco flinched at Harry’s tone which had effectively crushed any hope Draco might have felt.

When Draco didn’t move, Harry spoke again. “Have you gone deaf? I said leave.”

The venom in Harry’s voice and his obvious movement to retrieve his want from the table jolted Draco’s attention back to the reason he’d come. Raising his hands to show Harry he wasn’t going to fight, he looked directly into Harry’s face. “Can I explain, please?” Even to his own ears, he sounded desperate.

Harry’s grip tightened on his wand now in his hand, “Why should I let you? Merlin knows you don’t deserve it.”

Draco wanted to drop his gaze, go home, give up, but Hermione’s voice echoed in his brain _find your Gryffindor side_. Squaring his shoulders, Draco said simply, “Because you’re a good man who has always tried to give everyone a chance, even if they’re an ex-Death Eater who definitely didn’t deserve one.” Draco paused, and pressing the advantage sensed developing at his words, he added, “If you still want me to leave after, I will. You have my word.”

Harry clenched his jaw, “Fine, explain but be quick about it.”

Draco moved to sit on the other chair but stopped when Harry glared at him. Raising his hands again, Draco took a step back and then he started.

“You know my parents expect me to marry and produce a legitimate heir. They know I’m gay and it doesn’t matter. What matters is that it’s my duty as a Malfoy. I’ve told that I won’t marry a woman, let alone date one, and it seems like they’ve finally started believing me because they started to arrange dates for me. I found ways to refuse all of them so this time they just didn’t tell me. They invited me out to dinner and invited someone they felt was a suitable match.” Draco let out a long breath.

“I was blindsided. And it didn’t mean anything. You have to know that.” Draco stopped, watching Harry as he processed this, anxiety weighing heavy in his chest as he willed Harry to understand and believe him.

“Why didn’t you leave?” Harry asked, face unreadable.

“Because I couldn’t disrespect my parents that way,” Draco chewed his lip, his parents were always a touchy topic between he and Harry, “They do love me, in their own way. I don’t want to lose them. And besides, I never thought you’d find out.”

Harry’s eyes flashed and he sat up a bit straighter, “So it’s okay to disrespect me, our relationship, that way. So long as I didn’t know?”

“That’s not what I meant, Harry and you know it.”

“No, I’m not sure I do.” Harry stood up, the album falling to the floor as he began to pace the length of the room. “Cause it seems to me Draco,” Harry continued, “that you’re sorry you got caught. Not that it happened.”

“That’s not true,” Draco interrupted, his indignation clear, but Harry ignored him and kept going.

“It’d actually be a nice little solution to your problem wouldn’t it? Date when mommy and daddy are around, keep them quiet and then come home to me at night after washing off any traces of lipstick or perfume. Nice little Slytherin scheme, don’t you think?”

“You’re being ridiculous” Draco raised his voice, frustration starting to creep in.

Harry gave a hard laugh, “I’m being ridiculous? You’re the one who went on a date, and when you got caught, turned up here expecting me to act like it’s no big deal cause you were tricked.”

“I was tricked.” Draco bit back, “I’m sorry you’re hurt but I can’t apologize for something that wasn’t my bloody fault, not that you waited around to ask me about it. No, you were pretty quick to believe Weasley and Granger on this one, weren’t you?”

“Right,” Harry snarled, “you’re the innocent victim here.”

“I am!” Draco’s frustration exploded, “What should I have done Harry?” He yelled.

“You could have left.” Harry yelled back.

“And risk losing my parents permanently. Be reasonable, they’re my family.”

Harry’s eyes flashed again. Draco felt a shiver go through him at the energy that was rolling off Harry and then he ducked as a figuring on the mantle behind him exploded.

“Reasonable?” Harry finally ceased his pacing and stood facing Draco, “Reasonable? Tell me what’s so unreasonable about expecting parents to respect the choices of their adult son? What is so unreasonable about expecting my boyfriend to stand up for our relationship in public?”

Draco made to interject but Harry just raised his voice louder, “What is so bloody unreasonable about being pissed off at the fact the man I love was on a date with somebody else?”

Done shouting, Harry turned away, clearly unable to keep looking at Draco and resumed his pacing, muttering under his breath about all the things he like to _reasonably_ do to Draco at that moment.

But Draco heard none of it. All he heard was the pounding of blood in his ears and the phrase _man I love_ echoing in his brain. Acting on impulse rather than any semblance of rational thought, Draco moved around the couch and caught Harry just as he turned, so they were nose to nose. Reaching out, Draco pushed Harry hard towards the closest wall, pinning him there.

“What the fuck are you---mgh”

This kiss was harsh with too much teeth and not enough tongue as Harry fought to get away. But Draco kept pushing, and when Harry wouldn’t yield to his wandering tongue, he settled for nipping lighting at Harry’s lips. Heat and energy built between them, laced with anger, frustration, confusion, passion and an edge of desperation after days of being apart from one another.

Draco didn’t want to let go. Didn’t want to face the possibility at this would but the last time he would kiss Harry, or feel his body pressed up between him and hard surface. But Draco’s luck at keeping Harry where he wanted him finally ran out as Harry took advantage of Draco’s roaming tongue and bit down hard, pushing Draco away as he checked his tongue for blood.

Draco could see the rage building in Harry’s face and knew he had to get out what he wanted to say before Harry recovered enough to act. Even a kiss a harsh as this had left them both a bit dazed.

“I love you too.” He blurted out.

Whatever Harry was expecting, it wasn’t that and Draco watched, somewhat relieved, as confusion washed over Harry’s face, almost fully erasing the rage that’d been there only moments before.

“What?” Harry stared at him.

“I love you too. And you’re right—you deserve more loyalty from me.” Draco shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, “I guess I’ll be going now. See you around Harry.” Turning, Draco made his way to the door.

“Draco, wait.” For the first time in their argument, Harry sounded tired, and when Draco turned around to face him again, Harry had taken off his glasses and was rubbing at his eyes.

“We both fucked up. I should’ve asked you about the date. You should’ve stood up for me to your parents.” Harry replaced his glasses, “but we can’t change any of that, so the question is what do we do now?”

It was silent for a few moments, and then Draco said in a soft voice, “We do better. That is, if you still want…” Draco’s left the words unspoken but he knew that Harry caught their meaning anyways.

Finally, Harry nodded, and Draco let out a breath he did realize he was holding.

“Okay,” Harry said in an equally soft voice, “We do better.” Harry tilted his chin up and Draco didn’t need to be asked twice.

In two short strides, he reached harry and walked straight into Harry’s open arms. He didn’t let go for a very long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated <3 <3


End file.
